Head of Operations heads to the Pallet-Track board

Black Country business Pallet-Track continues to defy the UK’s threatened triple-dip recession – with the help of its own home-grown talent.

After nine years with the company, head of operations Lisa Burrows has been promoted to the board of directors with the shared mandate to help drive Pallet-Track’s ambitious growth plan.

Traditionally viewed as a male-dominated sector, Pallet-Track which has a combined turnover in excess of £50 million and philosophy of recruiting and retaining talented managers has rewarded Lisa with the role of operations director controlling the UK-wide distribution of thousands of palletised products from its central hub in Millfield Road, Wolverhampton.

Lisa joined the business in a sales role at the former Wednesbury site in 2004 before taking on the HR position to help with the growth of the business. At that time Pallet-Track employed just 15 people and had only 40 network members. Now there are over 100 people employed at the 267,000 sq ft hub at the Titan Distribution Centre with a total 73 network members - and growing.

In 2008 Lisa moved into the operations team and after just three years was promoted to head of department and feels it is the autonomy offered by Pallet-Track that has promoted her through the ranks.

“I am very proud to become a board member of this company which has always had the refreshing attitude of giving everyone room to grow and develop their career options within the organisation. We encourage autonomous thinking and we want people to contribute and speak out - mutual respect is a cornerstone of the business,” said Lisa

A founding member of the Association of Pallet Networks (APN) Pallet-Tracks 73 network members around the UK bring their goods into its Wolverhampton hub for distribution by other network members. The ‘hub and spoke’ strategy that Lisa directs helps reduce costly fuel bills for small haulage companies and cuts empty running and congestion of the UK’s crowded road network.

“We are a business based upon maximising productivity and one of my first priorities is to work with the team and the board towards an even better working environment as we grow the business,” she said.

“Having a background in sales and HR is a strong plus because the job is about people skills and getting the best out of an already capable team. Pallet-Track believes people buy from people and they are the best assets the company has, which is why staff retention is so high.”

Nigel Parkes Pallet-Tracks managing director, said: “We were delighted to reward Lisa for her outstanding work– she thoroughly deserved the promotion and she will be a great asset to the board as we plan our very exciting future.”

“There is a lot of talk about gender and this being a male dominated sector, but we are a business that encourages and attracts a lot of women to apply themselves and do well. Business should not be about positive or negative discrimination. It should be about getting the right mix of people and the correct balance to grow effectively,” he said.

“Pallet-Track will continue to expand because of people like Lisa who have themselves grown within the business because they work hard and understand the people-focussed philosophy which is hard-wired into our DNA.”

Lisa, who grew up and still lives in Sedgley with her husband has a 12-year-old son, is horse-racing enthusiast, a season-ticket holder at Molineaux and is also a keen gardener.